Democratic Candidateshttp://www.democratic-candidates.org
Resource Site for DemocratsSun, 06 Aug 2017 20:02:21 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.1Morrison Bonpassehttp://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/morrison-bonpasse/
http://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/morrison-bonpasse/#respondSun, 06 Aug 2017 20:02:12 +0000http://www.democratic-candidates.org/?p=23Morrison Bonpasse grew up in Duxbury, Massachusetts, where he completed basic education at Phillips Academy, Andover, and later attended Yale University. He graduated from Boston University Law School to become a lawyer, and also holds degrees as a public administrator and in business. He now resides in Newcastle, Maine, with his wife.

Bonpasse is extremely concerned and passionate about the plight of wrongfully convicted persons in the American prison system. He founded and runs Bonpasse Exoneration Services, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the investigation of all claims of wrongful conviction and the release of those who have been jailed in error. Though he is especially vociferous about three people in particular – Thomas Shay, Alfred Trenkler, and Chad Evan – he champions the cause without prejudice. As an author, he has even written books on this issue.

Globally-minded, Bonpasse worries over environmental issues. He is concerned about unsustainable population growth, advocating for the United States to support unspecified measures to lower the worldwide birth rate to match the rate of death, resulting in zero net growth, and he discusses climate change as another problem to be addressed. He also champions the notion of a single global currency, and believes the United States should voluntarily phase out the American dollar in its favor, believing that such a move would bring stability to global finances and ultimately save money.

Bonpasse is generally leftist in his domestic policies, as well. He supports women’s rights to abortion, is in favor of the Affordable Care Act as an important step to guaranteeing that all people have access to healthcare, and believes that gender identity and sexual orientation should be added to the list of protected classes against which the government may not discriminate. He believes in the abolition of capital punishment, and supports the legalization of recreational drug use. In addition to his previously discussed work to free the wrongfully convicted, he also advocates for reducing imprisonment generally, via the elimination of mandatory prison sentences and the restriction of prison time only to violent criminals.

A community-minded fellow who seems concerned about humanity in general, Bonpasse’s sober rhetoric may strike many Americans as insufficiently patriotic. Many, however, especially on the political left, will find resonance with his positions and consider his ideas responsible and logical.

]]>http://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/morrison-bonpasse/feed/0Brad Winslowhttp://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/brad-winslow/
http://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/brad-winslow/#respondSun, 06 Aug 2017 20:01:01 +0000http://www.democratic-candidates.org/?p=21Brad Winslow grew up in the city of Phoenix, Arizona, but by the time he graduated from high school, he was living in St Petersburg, Florida. He began working during his senior year, getting a job as a busboy at a dinner theater. He enjoyed the hard work, and applied himself to finding the most efficient ways of accomplishing his tasks, impressing his bosses. He quickly advanced to head busboy, and eventually rose first to assistant manager of the restaurant, then full manager, and eventually regional supervisor. His professional life was already going so well that he chose to prioritize it over further education, withdrawing from college without earning a degree. In time, after discovering a love of computer programming, he switched careers and began working in information technology.

Winslow compares the federal government to a business, with the American people as its owners. He is frustrated with his perception that politicians from both major political parties always seem to win office by drawing on the support of the monied elite, to whom they are then exclusively beholden during their term, without regard for the majority of the population – their real “bosses”. He worries that elected officials do not feel accountable to the owners of the government, and strongly believes that they should. To this end, the primary legislative focus of his striven-for presidency, the promotion, selling and explanation of which he calls his “goal in life itself”, is the passing of a constitutional amendment he calls the “Public House Amendment”.

Winslow proposes the creation of a new chamber of government, the Public House, to be staffed entirely by unpaid or modestly paid volunteers, and whose purpose would be popular oversight of elected politicians. The Public House would decide upon and establish “goals” that the people expect the government – their managerial employees – to accomplish within a given time frame. Failure to meet these goals would result in escalating warnings, with direct consequences up to and including premature removal from office. The Public House would also have the power to veto congressional legislation, if it is deemed to unfairly favor a segment of the population or not be in the best interests of the American People.

Winslow’s focus on the promotion and advancement of the Public House Amendment is so intense that, when discussing his plans should he become President, he scarcely speaks of anything else. This makes it difficult to evaluate the balance of his political positions and policy objectives. Nevertheless, he has considered his constitutional plans thoroughly. And while he admits his campaign for the White House takes place “against the odds”, he proudly sells himself as a man of the people rather than a career politician – Winslow considers it among his qualifications for the job that he has only been to Washington, D.C. once, during a school field trip.

]]>http://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/brad-winslow/feed/0Jeff Bosshttp://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/jeff-boss/
http://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/jeff-boss/#respondSun, 06 Aug 2017 19:59:50 +0000http://www.democratic-candidates.org/?p=19Jeff Boss lives in Richfield Park, New Jersey, in a home that he believes has been compromised. He holds a number of highly cynical opinions regarding the federal government, and in particular the National Security Agency, the latter of which he says orchestrated the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This belief qualifies Boss as a “Truther”, a member of an informal group that believes the US government is directly responsible for 9/11.

Boss takes every available opportunity to denounce the NSA and inform the public that he has evidence proving their involvement in the September 11th attacks, including DVD recordings and affidavits from over 500 people in the know admitting that the NSA paid them $20,000 for their silence. Because of his campaign to expose the truth, Boss believes that the NSA is making daily attempts on his life, and that it has bugged his home and altered his plumbing to poison the water supply. The seven people living closest to him are all NSA agents, he says, and are monitoring him. He also believes that the NSA controls the media in order to prevent his message from being heard, that it has covered up misdeeds in George W Bush’s past (and is also trying to kill Boss for revealing that, as well), and that it intercepts and tampers with his telephone calls so that some people believe they have had phone conversations with him when in fact it was not him at all.

Seeking the Democratic nomination for 2016, Boss veers left of center on most issues. He supports a $15.00 minimum wage, free higher education (up to and including doctorate degrees) for all who desire it, and $400 flat rate for automobile insurance guaranteed by the state. He calls for “equal rights for everyone”, and favors legalized marijuana. Showing some conservative tendencies, however, he opposes any and all federal taxation of federal workers and state taxation of city and state workers, and supports gun rights.

Boss’ policy positions may be appealing to many of the more liberal Democrats whose nomination he seeks, minus his opposition to gun control. However, his deeply held beliefs concerning the NSA’s activities against him risk alienating the vast majority of people who read his literature, and while he may find a devoted following due to the nature of his views, it is unlikely that he will win a large one.

]]>http://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/jeff-boss/feed/0Roque de La Fuentehttp://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/roque-de-la-fuente/
http://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/roque-de-la-fuente/#respondSun, 06 Aug 2017 19:56:10 +0000http://www.democratic-candidates.org/?p=17Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente was born and raised in San Diego, California, where he continues to reside to this day. His early education had a strong religious influence from numerous spiritual groups, including the Carmelites of the Sacred Heart, the Daughters of the Holy Spirit, and the Legionaries of Christ. As a young man, he earned a Bachelors degree in Physics and Mathematics from the Mexican school Instituto Patria, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. He also studied Business Administration and Accounting at Anahuac University and the University of San Diego. He began his professional career as a car salesman, where he enjoyed great success and eventually became a prolific franchise owner in the industry. He has also worked as an entrepreneur in real estate, assisted living, and other businesses. He has a strong sense of patriotism – once, when his municipal government refused (for unspecified reasons) to allow him to fly a large American flag over his Cadillac dealership, he stubbornly challenged them in court for nine years until he won the right to fly the flag.

De La Fuente is running as a Democrat, but many of his policies are surprisingly conservative. He champions fiscal responsibility as the solution to the nation’s economic challenges, including restricting federal spending and indexing the government’s budget to the previous year’s GDP so that spending could only rise if the economy were to strengthen. He does favor transitioning from finite to sustainable energy sources, but he frames this as a national security issue (energy independence) and supports incentivizing the private sector to voluntarily make the switch, rather than requiring they do so by regulatory mandate. Similarly, he supports withdrawing American armed forces from dangerous foreign nations, but still emphasizes the importance of a technologically supreme military and speaks of the importance of being able to project force rapidly when necessary.

On the issue of education, De La Fuente favors providing equal facilities and resources to students in financially disadvantaged areas, but he is opposed to systems of Affirmative Action. He also supports offering federal funds to states to support university-level scholarships, but he advocates states’ freedom in allocating and utilizing the money as they see fit, without the attachment of what he calls “political strings”.

De La Fuente’s positions are likely to make him an oddly attractive pick to a variety of conservative voters. It is difficult to see, however, a clear path for him to win the support of his chosen Democratic party, especially – as something of an irony – in his traditionally-liberal home state of California.

]]>http://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/roque-de-la-fuente/feed/0Bernie Sandershttp://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/bernie-sanders/
http://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/bernie-sanders/#respondSun, 06 Aug 2017 19:49:21 +0000http://www.democratic-candidates.org/?p=15Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Bernard “Bernie” Sanders is the son of Polish Jewish immigrants. While his higher education began with the study of psychology in Brooklyn, he soon transferred to the University of Chicago, where he ultimately graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. His political activities during his academic career consisted mostly of contributions to the Civil Rights Movement, as he was a student organizer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. After college, he moved to Vermont and worked in several fields, including carpentry, film-making, writing, and research.

Sanders began a humble political career in 1971, experiencing frustrating results for the following ten years. It was not until 1981, after a brief break from politics, that he found major success in the field by winning election to the office of Mayor in Burlington. He held this role until 1989, when he opted not to seek reelection and began teaching political science at Harvard University. Sanders returned to politics again in 1991 and won the seat for Vermont’s at-large congressional district, becoming the first Independent in congress in over 40 years.

Although Sanders traditionally runs as an Independent and describes himself as a “Democratic Socialist”, he caucuses with the Democratic party and generally enjoys their support. In 2005, Sanders declared himself a candidate for Senate representing Vermont, following the retirement of Jim Jeffords. Critically, his campaign won the endorsement of New York Senator Chuck Schumer, the Chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Schumer’s support meant that, although Sanders was as usual running as an Independent, any Democrat attempting to run against him would receive no financial help from the party. He also received endorsements from such notable Democrats as Harry Reid, Howard Dean, and even Barack Obama. Sanders would go on to win this Senate seat, and was reelected in 2012 with an impressive 71% of the vote.

Senator Sanders announced his candidacy for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, without fanfare, in a statement issued to supporters on Thursday, April 30, 2015. His road may be a long and difficult one with the expected backlash against his decidedly far-left political positions. Nevertheless, he is very well-liked, with 2011 polling finding him to be third among most popular Senators in the country, and making him a political force to be reckoned with.

]]>http://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/bernie-sanders/feed/0Martin O’Malleyhttp://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/martin-omalley/
http://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/martin-omalley/#respondSun, 06 Aug 2017 19:46:42 +0000http://www.democratic-candidates.org/?p=13The former front man of the Irish fusion band, O’Malley’s March, who also incidentally, is the two-term Governor of Maryland, served noticed of a possible run for 2016 after agreeing to a speaking engagement in March 2013 in Charleston, South Carolina – only 500 miles and two states south of Annapolis. Nothing unusual about that, right?

That aside, Maryland’s remarkable drop in crime statistics, number one national ranking of public schools, $1b cash reserves, 8th fastest post-recession national recovery rate, and number one rank for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, are things that any potential candidate would love to have on their resume.

Former Governor O’Malley announced his bid for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination on May 30, 2015 in Baltimore.

]]>http://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/martin-omalley/feed/0Larry Lessighttp://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/larry-lessig/
http://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/larry-lessig/#respondSun, 06 Aug 2017 19:45:52 +0000http://www.democratic-candidates.org/?p=11On November 2, 2015, Larry Lessig withdrew his bid for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. He claims that recent changes in the Democratic Party debate rules would keep him off the stage at upcoming Democratic debates.

In a video announcing his decision, Mr. Lessig said, “It is now clear that the party won’t let me be a candidate and I can’t ask people to support a campaign that I know can’t even get before the members of the Democratic Party — or to ask my team or my family to make a sacrifice even greater than what I’ve already made.”

Lawrence “Larry” Lessig was born in Rapid City, South Dakota, but grew up in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He began his higher education at the University of Pennsylvania, earning a B.A. in Economics and a B.S. in Management. He then studied for and received an M.A. in Philosophy from the University of Cambridge, in England. Finally, he attended Yale Law School and graduated with his Juris Doctor in 1989. Following law school, he entered the legal profession, serving as a clerk for various judges – including Justice Antonin Scalia, at the Supreme Court. Today, Lessig works as a law professor, and is vocal as a political activist. He is also a published author.

Highly unique among political candidates, Lessig has but a single issue: The passing of legislation he calls “The Citizen Equality Act”. This proposal contains three fundamental reforms that Lessig maintains are necessary to achieve the goal of equality among the American people, specifically relating to voting, congressional representation, and campaign funding. To this end, Lessig favors automatic voter registration and the declaration of election day as a national holiday, the abolition of the “gerry-mandering” districting process to be replaced by districts mandated to contain equal proportions of partisan voters, and the overturning of the highly controversial “Citizens United” Supreme Court decision that removed all limits on campaign spending by wealthy organizations.

Frustrated that the US Constitution does not allow for a federal referendum to pass law as is practiced in many states, Lessig declares that his would be a run to become a “referendum President”, who would campaign on and be elected to pass one piece of legislation. Beyond the advancement of the Citizen Equality Act, he has no interest in the Oval Office, and pledges to resign once he is successful in his solitary goal. He calls his campaign a “hack” of the Constitution’s omission of a national referendum; if he were elected after campaigning on only one issue, he says, congress would be all but forced to accept his victory as a mandate by the people to support his reforms. He runs on no other platform; beyond the Act, he says, his personal political leanings are irrelevant.

A Referendum President

The Citizen Equality Act of 2017

Because of his intentions, his choice of Vice President becomes extremely important, and he has expressed an interest in considering existing Democratic frontrunners for the position. Whomever he chose, he says, would serve as a close advisor, spending their time observing him and preparing for his fully intended resignation, when they would become President to finish his term.

Lessig’s support is easy to gauge. Those who agree with the intentions of the Citizen Equality Act are likely to back him, while those opposed (or who simply take issue with his plan to win the presidency for but a lone piece of legislation) will move on from his candidacy. In any event, he has officially declared himself a contender, although an active campaign depends on two pending factors: whether the likely Democratic nominee intends to support his bill or similar legislation, and whether he is able to raise $1 million in financial support by Labor Day from a crowdfunding project he has started. Lessig raised $150,000 on the first day of this initiative, and is already more than one-third of the way to accomplishing his monetary goal.

]]>http://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/larry-lessig/feed/0Tim Kainehttp://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/tim-kaine/
http://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/tim-kaine/#respondSun, 06 Aug 2017 19:44:24 +0000http://www.democratic-candidates.org/?p=9http://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/tim-kaine/feed/0Joe Bidenhttp://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/joe-biden/
http://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/joe-biden/#respondSun, 06 Aug 2017 19:42:29 +0000http://www.democratic-candidates.org/?p=7It could’ve easily been a completely different tale for Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr., in the form of two major events in his life that nearly ended his political career, and life.

Barely 41 days after winning a fiercely contested Senate election, the 30-year old Biden was confronted with the shocking news that his wife and one-year-old daughter were tragically killed in an automobile accident just a week before Christmas in 1972. His two sons, who were also in the vehicle at the time, were critically injured and placed under intensive care.

Faced with the task of looking after his boys, and the enormous pressure of his new job in Washington, Mr. Biden had to make a backbreaking, daily, 400km, 3 hour roundtrip commute from Dover. More than that, Mr. Biden was facing a serious crisis of faith.

“I liked to go at night when I thought there was a better chance of finding a fight. I was always looking for a fight. I had not known I was capable of such rage. I knew I had been cheated of a future, but I felt I’d been cheated of a past, too. The underpinnings of my life had been kicked out from under me… and it wasn’t just the loss of Neilia and Naomi. All my life I’d been taught about our benevolent God. This is a forgiving God, a just God, a God who knows people make mistakes. This is a God who is tolerant. This is a God who gave us free will to be able to doubt. This was a loving God, a God of comfort. Well, I didn’t want to hear anything about a merciful God. No words, no prayer, no sermon gave me ease. I felt God had played a horrible trick on me, and I was angry. I found no comfort in the Church. So I kept walking the dark streets to try to exhaust the rage.”
Promises to Keep, by Joe Biden (ISBN: 9780739383902)

Rumors were swirling thick and fast that the young Senator was on the verge of resigning. Congressional aides were even placing wagers on the date of his resignation. But one man worked hard to keep Mr. Biden in check – the late Senator Mike Mansfield, who was also the Senate Majority Leader at the time.

“Washington & the Senate had no hold on me. I was supposed to be sworn in two weeks, but I could not bear to imagine the scene without Neilia. I told the Senate majority leader, Mike Mansfield, that I wasn’t going to be a Senator. Mansfield was relentless. He called the hospital every day to tell me he needed me in the Senate and to keep me up to date…. It was late and the boys were asleep, so I was mainly listening while the leader told me I owed it to Neilia to become one of the 1,680 men and women who had ever been sworn into the United States Senate … My wife had worked too hard for me to kick it away. I owed it to her. I owed it to my sons. Give me six months, Joe, Senator Mansfield kept saying… So I agreed. Six months.”
Promises to Keep, by Joe Biden (ISBN: 9780739383902)

The second twist to the Biden story occurred in 1988. Unbeknownst to Mr. Biden and his physicians, there was a time bomb inside his head. For several months since the late 1987, Mr. Biden had been suffering acute neck pains. It became so bad, his physicians, who wrongly diagnosed it as a pinched nerve, ordered the Senator to wear a neck brace.

However, the pain persisted, and it began to make him nauseous – so much so, he struggled throughout the hearings for the nomination of future Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy in January 1988. He failed to show up for the vote. At the urging of friends and family, he agreed to go for some tests at the Wilmington Memorial Hospital in Delaware, where doctors finally discovered that Biden had a brain aneurysm that was so advanced, the blood vessel was literally moments away from exploding. It was a miracle that he was still alive.

He was immediately rushed to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. The situation deteriorated so rapidly, that a priest was called to the hospital to administer the last rites for the then 46-year old (this was recounted by his second wife, Dr. Jill Biden, in an interview with the Washington Post in 2008). The surgeons made a last-ditch attempt, and successfully repaired the aneurism – the tough Irishmen, on his part, pulled through, surviving the night against all odds. A second aneurism (possibly benign) was discovered shortly thereafter, and Biden went under the knife again three months later in May 1988.

Fast forward 20-years later, and Mr. Biden made an unsuccessful challenge for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. However, despite some harsh words directed at Senator Barack Obama during the early stage of the contest, he was immediately tapped by the Obama team not long after announcing his withdrawal from the race. Mr. Biden initially rejected the advances, but Obama slowly won him over.

On August 22, 2008, Mr. Biden was eventually announced as the running mate for Barack Obama. Observers were almost unanimous in their opinion that his selection was designed to buttress Senator Obama’s weak foreign policy credentials. After all, Mr. Biden was by far the most experienced foreign policy wonk within the Democratic fold.

Despite their marked differences, both men had one thing in common – they were phenomenally strong campaigners. Mr. Biden, especially, was in his element among the blue-collar middle class. His gruff, no holds barred styled proved to be popular amongst the masses. Concerns over Mr. Biden’s perceived lack of fit with the cerebral Obama all but dissipated as the two men overcome a rocky beginning to forge a solid partnership.

Mr. Biden has proven to be an effective member of the Obama administration. Reports from the White House suggest that Mr. Biden has taken the role of a devil’s advocate within the administration, something that the President apparently values greatly.

“The best thing about Joe is that when we get everybody together, he really forces people to think and defend their positions, to look at things from every angle, and that is very valuable for me… I also know, when he gives me his advice, he gives it to me straight.”
September 16, 2009: President Barack Obama in a written interview with Politico

As campaign season for the 2016 presidential election heats up, attention is on Mr. Biden and whether he will choose to make another bid for his own term in the White House. It is a decision surely made more taxing and draining for the vice president after May of 2015, when tragedy struck his family a second time. His 46 year old son Beau Biden, himself a successful politician in his own right who had served as Delaware’s attorney general and was preparing for a run to attempt to become that state’s governor, lost a years-long battle with brain cancer and passed away. Ironically, Beau was a survivor of the car crash that killed his father’s wife Neilia and daughter Naomi – Beau Biden, who was just three years old at the time, was injured in that accident but ultimately emerged alive.

While the vice president has continued making public appearances, attending fundraisers and delivering speeches in typical form of a serious contender readying a presidential bid, his reeling from Beau’s death has been apparent. He publicly doubts himself and his emotional capacity to mount a campaign, sometimes to an extent that most candidates and their handlers might consider tactically unwise. Several of his closest friends have offered their opinions that in the end, he will not run – though they usually qualify that position with assurances of their non-interference in his decision, which they wish to allow him to make for himself.

On October 21, 2015, Joe Biden announced that the time necessary for him to mount a credible campaign had passed and that he would not be a candidate in the 2016 presidential election

]]>http://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/joe-biden/feed/0Hillary Clintonhttp://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/hillary-clinton/
http://www.democratic-candidates.org/2016-presidential-candidates/hillary-clinton/#respondSun, 06 Aug 2017 17:45:47 +0000http://www.democratic-candidates.org/?p=4The sight of former president Bill Clinton wiping away tears of joy while standing silently behind his wife as she was making her victory speech in the 2000 Senate elections in New York may appear a little melodramatic for some. However, when one considers the sacrifices and extreme loyalty that Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton has shown to her husband over the previous 26 years, that gesture suddenly makes all the sense in world.

Secretary Clinton’s ascension to Senator, and thereafter, Secretary of State, is not something all that surprising for those that knew her, considering what a gifted child, student and political operative Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton was.

Born in Cook County and raised in suburban Park Ridge just outside of Chicago, Secretary Clinton grew up in a loving middle class family. Her early years were shaped by her Goldwater-Republican Navy veteran and business owner father and his tremendous work ethic, balanced against her mother’s Democratic leanings and harsh childhood.

At an age where young girls and boys were still too preoccupied with watching cartoons on TV, young Hillary was already busy demonstrating her leadership abilities and initiative with backyard carnivals and cookie and food drives for charity. When others her age were engrossed with the challenges of school and growing up, young Hillary was busy with the post-election canvassing of Chicago’s south side for the Republican Party. When children tread lightly around their parents and elders, she was engaged in delightfully spirited political debates with her family during dinner.

Her star continues to shine brightly at Wellesley, where her commencement address drew a seven-minute long standing ovation, and at Yale, where she was paid to intern at Washington every summer. She was already an experienced Democratic aide before even graduating from Yale, and was headhunted to be part of the Watergate impeachment inquiry team counseling House Democrats months after finishing college.

She was never a radical, beatnik or hippie, but neither was she a middle-of-the-road moderate. She is, above all, an idealist – an intelligent, disciplined, driven and practical idealist. Despite her image of a strong and uncompromising woman, people who she’s worked with reveal her to be a polite, considerate, consultative, and perhaps most surprisingly, religious individual. The latter perhaps is due to the influence of her mother and grandmother, both strong-willed Methodist women. She is also an exceptional public speaker, and can speak for an extended period of time without notes – done without pauses and filler syllables.

Over the years, many negative epithets have been used by the press and political opponents to describe her. As many have learned however, pigeonholing or underestimating Secretary Clinton often comes at a great cost.

The key to defeating Secretary Clinton lies in winning over her core support base – women, baby boomers and minorities. Meanwhile, her weakest demographic is the millennials, and this is clearly reflected in her underwhelming support online. And yet, one gets the impression that her opponents simply do not get this very simple equation. Will this prove costly in the end?